


Hermitty School

by Tropisms



Category: Hermitcraft RPF
Genre: All the hermits are teenagers, Alternate Universe - Boarding School, Grian is the school prankster, I honestly don't know whats going on, Mumbo is a nerd, Not Beta Read, Xisuma as headboy, and everyone hates him because of it, dont ship real people, personas only, this is angst potential
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-14
Updated: 2020-07-22
Packaged: 2021-03-04 22:20:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,929
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25253728
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tropisms/pseuds/Tropisms
Summary: Mumbo is an outcast at his old school, so his mother sends him off to Hermitty Boarding School. For the first time he has a group of friends who understand them. With the help of his head boy Xisuma, his roommate Iskall and few other friends, Mumbo explores Hermitty and all its secrets. Ugh and theres that prankster Grian.
Relationships: Grumbo - Relationship, More to come probably - Relationship, PERSONAS ONLY - Relationship, Stresskal
Comments: 8
Kudos: 112





	1. Chapter 1

Mumbo Jumbo loved school, it was where he excelled. He was dedicated to learning and study, and did little else. Free time? Mumbo was reading. Summer vacation? Getting ready for the next school year. Unfortunately his affinity for education led Mumbo to be fairly unpopular among his fellow students. They called him a nerd, a teacher's pet, etc. This didn’t bother the tall boy very much, but it did bother his mother. He never brought any friends over nor did he ever go out to hang out with the other students. Mumbo’s mom tried her hardest to get her son to make friends. She signed him up for clubs at the local library. Mumbo went to them, but just sat to the side. She tried to encourage him to talk to the neighbor’s kids. He told her he was fine. Mostly, she tried to get him to wear something other than that stuffy suit. Mumbo refused, he told his mother it was comfortable. After many fruitless attempts of getting her son to get out in the world, Mrs. Jumbo decided it was time for Mumbo to get a change of scenery. She sent him to boarding school. 

Mumbo wasn’t nervous about the change. School was school after all, it didn't matter if he lived there or not. In fact he might prefer this. He loved his mom of course, but being away from home would let him spend even more time with his studies. He didn’t think anything would change at his new school, the students would think he was weird and the teacher’s would give him good grades, just as usual. As Mumbo considered all of this he vaguely packed up his stuff for the semester. Several pairs of his signature suit, some gadgets to fiddle with, and after much hesitation a small stuffed animal cat. It was immature, he knew, but the little stuffed cat held so much emotion to the teen. A vacation many years ago had led Mumbo to make the one friend he’d ever had. He didn’t remember his name, they were so very young, but the two boys had clicked immediately. They played for hours and hours on the beach, till one day the other boy had to leave. Not understanding that they’d never see each other again, the boy had left his prized possession, the stuffed cat, with Mumbo. “Take care of Maui for me!” the boy had called as his parents dragged him away. Mumbo had clutched the little toy tightly in his arms and promised its safe return. Till this day Maui had sat on his dresser as a reminder of his broken promise to the boy. It was silly, but Mumbo couldn’t leave it, he’d promised to take care of it. 

With a sigh the teen closed his suitcase and walked down stairs to greet his mother. “I’m ready now.” he stated bluntly. 

His mother’s eyes glistened, “You don’t have to do this if you don’t want Mumby, but I think it will help you.”

Mumbo smiled fondly at his mother’s nickname, “I’ll be okay mom, I promise.” He reached out to hug her. 

His mother gratefully returned the embrace, glad that even with everything, her son still loved her. She planted a kiss on his slick black hair, “The taxi is right outside…” and after a slight hesitation, “I hope you make some friends Mumbo.”

“I’ll try my best mom.” Mumbo promised, but he knew it wouldn’t happen. As he entered the taxi he waved goodbye to his mom. The taxi driver greeted him politely and Mumbo nodded in reply, and then they drove away. 

The journey was fairly long, but Mumbo kept himself entertained with his gadgets. Fiddling with wires and buttons, the machines themselves didn’t do anything quite yet, but it kept Mumbo entertained anyways. Every once in a while the taxi driver would glance at him curiously in the mirror. After an hour or two the driver piped up, “Is this your first year son?” Mumbo didn’t look up from his device but nodded slightly. “The quiet type aye?” the driver questioned again. Mumbo just shrugged. The taxi man shook his head amused, “I’m going to take that as a yes.”

Another few hours passed in silence until the car rumbled to a stop. “We’re here kid!” the driver declared brightly. Mumbo quickly stashed his gadget into his luggage and stepped out of the vehicle. ‘Hermitty School’ the sign placed above the gate announced the location. Mumbo bit his lip in a mixture of anticipation and excitement. The driver rolled down his window and waved, “Have a good school year… uh…”

“Mumbo… my name is Mumbo.” the boy answered shyly. 

The taxi driver smiled widely, “Well! Have a good school year Mumbo!”

Mumbo smiled back at the man’s kindness, “Thank you, sir.” The driver tipped his hat and drove off into the distance. Mumbo took a deep breath and made his way towards the iron gates. 

“Name and age please.” the speakers at the gates requested.

“Mumbo Jumbo, 16.” the teen responded quietly. However, the speakers appeared to pick up even his whispers and swung open. Mumbo stepped forward into the grounds and stood around awkwardly unsure of what to do next. He looked curiously around the yard, several odd structures stuck out among the grass. The boy shook his head, he’d never understand modern art. Flowers dotted the lawn and a grand fountain stood in the middle of the path leading up to the building. The institution was oddly beautiful, but Mumbo was snapped out of his reverie as a voice called out to him.

“Hello! You must be Mumbo!” a boy ran up to him. Mumbo turned to face him and flinched. The boy had a large x-shaped scar running across his entire face. The boy however didn’t react, but instead put out his hand to be shaken. “My name is Xisuma!” the boy introduced himself, “I’ll be your head boy this year.” 

Mumbo opened his mouth to respond, but found no words would come out. It’d been a long time since he’d been addressed directly by a peer, and he didn’t want to ruin this. So he just silently took the boy’s hand. 

Xisuma raised his eyebrows in concern, “Are you okay there Mumbo?”

Mumbo’s face flushed in embarrassment and escaped Xisuma’s handshake, “Oh uh.. Y-yeah, I’m good… um, sorry!

The head boy looked relieved, “Oh, it’s okay to be nervous Mumbo, you don’t have to apologize!”

“Oh I’m uh… sorry…” Mumbo murmured. 

Xisuma shook his head, “What did I just say. You don’t need to apologize!” Mumbo grinned sheepishly at him. “Now come on, let me show you around!” 

The head boy pulled Mumbo all around the school showing him the classrooms, the lunchroom, the gym. It was in such a flurry of activity that Mumbo sincerely doubted if he’d ever remember where anything was located. His brain was spinning by the time Xisuma had led him over to the dorms. 

“So Mumbo, are you ready to meet your new roommate?” Xisuma asked.

“My… my w-what?” Mumbo stammered. 

Xisuma’s eyes widened, “You didn’t know!?”

Mumbo suddenly understood one of the reasons why his mother had sent him over to this school. She’d hoped he’d make a good friend in a roommate, Mumbo however, didn’t think it was going to go well. To his pure chagrin, Mumbo began to shake with nerves.

Xisuma steadied him with a gentle hand, “Hey it’s okay, Iskall is a great guy. Let me introduce you, you’ll see you’ll have no need to worry.”

Mumbo was still unsure, but followed the head boy down the dorm room hallway till they reached room 10. Xisuma knocked politely on the door and after a few seconds of frantic shuffling the door swung open. A stocky young man in green hoodie and spiky brown hair smiled out, “Hallo X!”

Xisuma smiled back, “Heyo Iskall, ready to meet your new roommate?”

“Am I ever!” the Swede responded, “I’ve been alone in this room for ages!”  
The head boy rolled his eyes, “Come on man, it’s only been two days since Python left. Anyway this is Mumbo Jumbo, he’s going to be your new roommate,” and Xisuma stepped aside and motioned the taller boy to come over. 

Mumbo shuffled over nervously clutching desperately at his suitcase. Iskall looked him up and down and Mumbo tried his best to avoid eye contact. After a few moments of silence Iskall spoke, “Nice suit dude!”

Mumbo looked up in surprise, “Really? You don’t think it’s weird?” 

Iskall let out a throaty chuckle, “Of course not dude! I think it’s omega cool, I could never pull off a look like that.”

Mumbo smiled, “Your hoodie is pretty cool as well,” and pointed at the lime green garment. 

Iskall shook his head, “This old thing, nah. Anyway come on in! I’ll show you around our humble abode.” Mumbo entered the room, a bit more confident than he’d been before. 

Xisuma waved him off, “If you boys need anything feel free to come to room 1 and let me know!” Then he walked off. 

Iskall ushered his new roommate into the dorm. The dorm seemed much larger than it should’ve been with lavish decorations and a neat living area. As Mumbo stared about wondrously, Iskall just shrugged, “It’s a bit much.” Iskall showed Mumbo where his bedroom would be and pointed out his own across the way. “If you need me, I’ll be in the living room,” Iskall called out and left Mumbo to his own devices. 

The room was fairly bare with just a bed, night stand, and closet. Mumbo hung up his suits in the closet and put his gadgets in the top drawer of the nightstand. This left the little stuffed cat sitting alone in his luggage. He wanted to set it on the nightstand to watch over him while he slept, but was scared Iskall would laugh at him. The swede actually seemed to like him, and Mumbo did not want to ruin that. With a quick whisper of ‘sorry’ to the stuffed animal the teen closed the suitcase with the toy still inside. He felt bad, but knew it was silly, it was just a toy after all, and he was sure he’d never meet the boy it belonged to ever again.


	2. Chapter 2 (Electric Boogaloo)

Mumbo awoke at seven o’clock sharp as he always did, even though this school didn’t start till nine he felt the need to keep the routine. He slipped on a clean suit and slid his way out of the room. He crept quietly down the hall careful not to wake up his sleeping roommate who’s snores rang out even with his door tightly shut. Mumbo’s stomach rumbled as he left the dorm, and he figured he should head to the cafeteria to find breakfast. Unfortunately for him, the rush of Xisuma’s tour had left him with only a vague idea of where he should be going. He spent several minutes wandering around the east corridor for the cafeteria, but with no luck. Mumbo glanced around desperately looking for any sign of where his destination may be and ran smack dab into another student. Stumbling back a bit, Mumbo began to apologize profusely, but the other student just smiled kindly. 

“Don’t worry about it one bit, it happens to the best of us!” the boy responded kindly, “What’s your name kiddo?”

“Uh… Mumbo…”

The boy smirked but not unkindly , “Pleasure to meet you ‘Uh Mumbo’, the name’s Joe. Haven’t seen you ‘round these parts before, there anything I can assist you with?”

Mumbo, embarrassed, explained that he was lost looking for the cafeteria. To his surprise Joe didn’t make fun of him, but instead said he was heading that way to and would gladly show Mumbo the way. The boys fell into comfortable conversation on their way. The way Joe spoke with twisted riddles and fascinating vocabulary, was intriguing to Mumbo. Joe explained that he was Xisuma’s roommate and as he described it ‘Co-headboy’ helping make decisions. The brunette also suggested to Mumbo since they were likely to be the only people up for quite a bit, that they should eat breakfast together. Mumbo gratefully accepted the offer. 

The two boys sat down at a small coffee table scrambled eggs in hand. The cafeteria was definitely different from the one at Mumbo’s old school. Unlike the sterile grey tables of public school, this cafeteria was filled with modern tables and comfortable furniture much like a coffee house his mother had taken him to once. Mumbo was taken out of his thoughts as Joe began to speak.

“Since you’re new here, let me explain to you how Hermitty works,” Joe said through a mouth full of eggs. And explain he did. Joe began by showing Mumbo the way the classes worked. Both he and Joe were part of class 7a. Classes at Hermitty are not constructed the way normal school classes are by age. Instead each class is composed of students with similar educational achievements. Grades either taken from an old school or from an exam given before enrollment. 7a was some of the smartest students at the school, with either incredible academic intelligence or incredibly creative minds. 

Around 8:00am as students started to roll into the cafeteria, Joe began to introduce Mumbo to some of the students in 7a. The first person Joe introduced to Mumbor was Cleo. A close friend of Joe’s, Cleo was a sassy red head who was manager of the drama club’s costume department. Mumbo was also introduced to the blue haired Jevin, the wide eyed Keralis, and the ever sweet Stress. For some reason Mumbo felt instantly comfortable with his peers. They didn’t question his suit or his nerves, they just sat and talked about their lives. Keralis complained about his roommate who always slept for an ungodly amount of time. Stress talked about the struggles of going to the same school as her brother Wels, who’d stopped by the table to check in. Mumbo opened up to them right away, no longer worried about scaring them off. They all seemed so kind and sincere. For once Mumbo felt like he might actually fit in somewhere. 

Around 8:30, Iskall tiredly stumbled into the cafeteria and joined Mumbo and his new friends at the coffee table. “I see you found your way here Mumbo,” Iskall yawned. 

Mumbo smiled, “Yeah but only after some help from Joe.”

Iskall nodded drowsily, “Good ol’ Joe..” and he promptly fell asleep into his eggs. The whole table erupted into laughter as Iskall jerked up eggs covering his chin. 

Keralis who was giggling manically managed to take a breath to ask, “Why you so tired Izzy?” Mumbo was not surprised by how Keralis had addressed his roommate. He had learned Keralis had a tendency to give people strange nicknames and had already been declared ‘Bumbo’ by the older student. 

“Went for a late night walk,” Iskall shrugged. 

“Oooo were you with someone?” Keralis questioned wiggling his eyebrows suggestively. 

Iskall rolled his eyes in response, “If you must know I was alone, but keeping an eye on Grian. I was sure he was going to pull a prank on Mumbo since he was the new kid, and Mumbo doesn’t need to deal with that to be honest.”

The rest of the table nodded in agreement, but Mumbo was confused. “Who is this Grian character?” he asked his new friends. 

“He’s a menace!” declared Cleo slamming her hands on the table. 

“Quite a trouble maker.” Joe agreed solemnly. 

“An absolute mad lad!” Keralis chimed in. 

He’s not all bad you guys.” Stress rebutted, “He’s helped me out in the garden quite a few times.”

Iskall grunted, “He’s hindered you just as much as he helped. Remember when he tramped the hydrangea patch?”

“He said it was an accident!”

“And you believed him?! What about the time he hid your mulch in the boys locker room?” Iskall questioned disbelievingly. 

“You can’t prove that was Grian…” Stress murmured sulkily. 

Iskall rolled his eyes and turned to Mumbo, “Basically Grian is the school's prankster. He’s mostly harmless, but every once in a while his pranks go a bit too far.” Iskall smiled kindly at the taller boy as he continued, “And you seemed kind of nervous, so I didn’t think you would react kindly to a Grian prank on your first night.”

Part of Mumbo wanted to be upset with Iskall. He wanted to yell that he could take care of himself, but the other part of him knew that he couldn’t. Mumbo also realized that his roommate had lost sleep over trying to keep him happy, and if anything was just glad he’d finally found a friend that he kept his mouth shut and nodded apperciativily. 

“Speak of the devil” Jevin murmured to the rest of the group, and he pointed to a small boy in a red sweater who was sauntering into the cafeteria. 

Mumbo’s eyes widened, “That’s Grian? He’s so tiny he doesn’t look like he could cause any troubles.”

The group snickered at Mumbo’s disbelief. “He may be small, but he’s definitely got a big personality.” Jevin replied. 

“Yeah,” Stress added in, “And not everyone is blessed with your extraordinary height Mr. Jumbo!”

Iskall smiled fondly at the shorter girl as the rest of the group laughed, “Come on Stressy, don’t complain just because you're short too.” Stress punched him in the shoulder leading to more giggles among the group. 

A while later the ten minute warning bell rang and students began to file out of the cafeteria. Joe led the group down the hallway as the 7a group began to describe their classes to Mumbo. 

“Our first class of the day is English,” Cleo commented, “It’s Joe’s speciality so expect him to be suck up in that class.”

Joe huffed pretending to be offended, “I on no occasion have ‘sucked up’ to a teacher.”

Cleo smirked and whispered to Mumbo, “Just wait, it’ll be the first thing he’ll do when we get to the room.”

Just as Cleo had said Joe went straight up to their teacher as they reached the classroom. 

“Hello Mrs.Middleton, wonderful morning ain’t it?” he greeted the teacher smiling at her warmly. 

“What did I say?” Cleo murmured smugly. Mumbo nodded awkwardly knowing he’d done the same thing at his old school, and made a mental note to never do it in front of Cleo. 

Keralis showed Mumbo to an empty seat near his own, and the two boys chatted while they waited for class to begin. The bell rang and a few seconds later a student stumbled through the door and tripped his way over to a desk by Keralis’s. 

“Sleep in again Bubbles?” Keralis asked smuggly. The boy (Bubbles?) just grumbled and laid his head on his desk. Keralis turned back to Mumbo amused, “This is the sleepy roommate I was telling you about.”

“Sleeping is good for you!” his roommate argued, “A good sleep schedule leads to a good student.”

Keralis ignored him, “His name is Bdubs, but I like to call him Bubbles.”

Bdubs continued to grumble about proper sleep schedules as class began.


	3. Chapter 3

The day went by without much accident. Mumbo continued to meet his fellow classmates. To his surprise they were all very kind and accepting. The only adverse interaction he’d had was when he had accidentally knocked Doc’s lunch out of his hand. Mumbo, who had not yet met the older student was quite terrified by the encounter. Doc had bellowed insults as Mumbo just stared in silent fear. Another boy had run over quickly to see what the commotion was about. He quickly introduced himself as Ren and then stepped between Mumbo and Doc. 

A few moments later the three boys were sitting eating lunch together. Doc and Mumbo apologizing profusely to each other while Ren laughed at their antics. Turns out that Grian (wow this was the second time his name had come up that day) had a tendency to knock Doc’s lunch out of his hands but not on accident. They had a little routine as Ren had described it, Grian knocks over Doc’s lunch, Doc yells at him for several minutes, and Ren comes over to intervene and share his lunch with Doc. Mumbo had just happened to have interrupted the said routine with his clumsiness and Doc had yelled at him thinking it was just the usual ‘Grian antics’. 

Throughout the day Mumbo met; Hypno, Tango, False, and Beef. He had yet to formally meet Grian. He did, however, hear quite a bit about him from Grian’s roommate Scar. Scar had been Mumbo’s lab partner during their science class and they had some time for small talk during the experiment. While the water in their beakers boiled, Scar complained about the pranks his roommate pulled and how he always managed to somehow get in trouble too.

“Just because I live with the guy doesn’t mean I’m part of his shenanigans!” Scar had declared loudly. 

“Ah you know you have fun with me Scar!” Grian had called back from across the room.

Scar turned to Mumbo and gave him a ‘you see what I have to put up with look’ before turning his attention back towards the experiment. 

After their final class of the day students were allowed to travel the campus as they pleased till the 8:00pm curfew. Having been lucky enough to not have gotten much homework that day Mumbo was able to freely explore for most of the afternoon. He first popped in to visit Cleo at the theatre club. The red head was making an intricate costume of a giant plant which Mumbo knew was for the school’s production of Little Shop of Horrors. 

“Wow, that is absolutely brilliant!” Mumbo complimented. 

“Why thank you!” Cleo replied smiling, “It’s taken quite a while, I’ll tell you that.”

Mumbo nodded, “I’m sure it did.” He paused for a moment then continued, “Do you think you could tell me a little bit about the show Cleo? I mean, if you want to.”

Cleo turned to him excitedly, “Of course I’ll tell you about it!” 

According to Cleo, Scar was the lead actor with Keralis, Stress, and Tango playing major roles as well. They were still in the beginning stages of production with everyone learning their lines and such. Bdubs and a kid named Etho (who Mumbo had not yet met) were working on the set. 

Mumbo enjoyed walking around the theatre and talking to everyone, but had to leave when a run through of the script began. He decided to next head to the newspaper club where he knew Joe would be. Desperately trying to remember his way to the english room he headed away from the theatre. After a few desperate minutes of searching he found Jevin and Hypno who helped him reach the club. 

Joe greeted Mumbo happily and started to introduce him to the other newspaper club members. Cub was an older student and the editor and chief of the Hermiton Herald (the name of the school's newspaper). Cub informed Mumbo that once theatre club was over, Cleo would be his co-editor, but until then Joe would help out. 

Joe shrugged at this, “I prefer just writing articles and such, but someones gotta help edit while Cleos away!”

Mumbo was then introduced to two students from the class of 6b Pixl and Zloy. They appeared to be the reports of the newspaper, keeping up with all the goings on of the school. They excitedly greeted Mumbo and told him his arrival was going to be in the next edition. The two younger boys continued to pester Mumbo for an interview until he quietly excused himself. 

Not knowing where else to go, Mumbo went to the dorm room in order to find Iskall. On his way down to room #10 he spotted Grain leaning on the wall about halfway down the hallway. Mumbo was nervous after all he’d heard about the prankster, but had decided that he would still try to talk to him. 

“Uh hey there!” Mumbo called out to the shorter boy. 

Grian looked up at him with interest, “Hey new kid.” 

Mumbo stood awkwardly looking at the blonde unsure of what to say next. Then Grian reached his hand out for a handshake. Mumbo smiled and grabbed the hand, but pulled away sharply when he felt a shock run up his arm. 

Grian smirked as he showed Mumbo the shocker he’d been concealing in his palm.

“Oi, w-why’d you do that!” Mumbo spluttered out.

Grian started walking away chuckling, “For fun.”

Mumbo’s eye twitched, “I was trying to ignore what everyone had said about you, and see what you were like for myself.” Mumbo paused, “But it seems as if you are as much of a pain as I’ve heard.” 

Grian was more than half way down the hallway when he turned around and started walking backwards to keep eye contact with the taller boy. “Whatever you say Mumbo Jumbo.” 

“Y-you insufferable little git” Mumbo grumbled under his breath. He decided he didn’t like Grian very much.


	4. Chapter 4 (the fourth one)

Mumbo stormed into his and Iskall’s dorm room a few moments after his encounter with Grian. It took quite a lot to make Mumbo mad, but Grian definitely checked all the boxes. Annoying, stuck-up, and a total asshole. He grumbled as he headed towards his bedroom. Iskall’s door was cracked open a little bit and he noticed Mumbo stomping down the hall. 

“What happened dude?” Iskall called out to his roommate. 

“Grian happened.” Mumbo growled. 

Iskall sighed, putting down the book he was reading, “What’d he do?”

“Handshake shocker.”

“Ah the classic.”

“I’m going to bed.” Mumbo muttered as he closed his bedroom door behind him. The teen threw himself on his mattress not even bothering to change out of his suit. He was unsure why Grian’s trick had upset him so much. He’d dealt with much worse at this old school. Perhaps it was because he had been getting along so well with every other student. Mambo glanced at his suitcase where he knew the stuffed cat was tucked away. He sighed and stood up to grab the plush. As he layed back down with the toy in hand Mumbo stroked the little cat and let his thoughts drift. Pretty soon he drifted away into a restless sleep.

Throughout the night Mumbo cycled through several different dreams. Most which made little to sense. Like the one where he continually insisted to Iskall that a chicken was a parrot. Others hit a little closer to home. A nightmare where it turned out all his new classmates actually hated him and were just putting on a show. However, his most vivid dream was of the boy on the beach. He revisited those moments on the beach building sandcastles and splashing in the ocean. The moment where his friend handed over the plush cat and called out for it to be well cared for, but suddenly the boy's calls started to turn into strange knocking noises. 

“MUMBO! MUMBO WAKE UP!”

Mumbo jolted up, still wearing his suit and soaked in sweat. The stuffed animal clutched tightly in his right hand. Someone was pounding on his bedroom door and the sun was leaking through the curtains. 

“MUMBO YOU NEED TO GET UP WE’RE GOING TO BE LATE!” Iskall yelled through the door.

Mumbo glanced at his clock and jumped up. 8:45am it read. He had 15 minutes to get to class. As Mumbo quickly tossed the stuffed cat onto his bed and ran out of the room, he began to panic. He’d never been late for a class before. Mumbo didn’t even bother to change out of the sweaty suit that he had slept in, but instead just grabbed his books and left the dorm, Iskall not far behind. The two boys sprinted down the hallway and towards the classrooms Iskall taking the lead.

They reached the english room at 8:59, barely making it on time. As Mumbo sat down he noticed the strange look his classmates were giving him and Iskall. Mumbo turned to his roommate who was looking thoroughly embarrassed, and was just wearing an undershirt and boxers with a lime green robe to cover himself up. Mumbo looked at himself and felt his face flush, his suit was wrinkled and soaked in sweat from the previous night and in his haste he’d forgotten to put his shoes on. 

“Rough night?” Keralis asked, trying to suppress a giggle.

Mumbo groaned and laid his head on his desk. The bell rang and a few seconds later Bdubs joined the class. Mumbo swore he would never sleep in again. 

Luckily for the two boys their english teacher dismissed them to go get cleaned and changed. She handed them the work they would miss and sent them back to the dorms. As they walked back towards the dorms Iskall turned towards his roommate.

“You feeling okay? You really don’t seem like the type to sleep in like that?” the swede asked.

Mumbo sighed, “I usually don’t sleep in, I don’t know what got into me. I had some weird dreams I guess. And I don’t know… I think I let Grian get into my head.” Mumbo felt strange admitting this to Iskall, but Iskall just nodded.

“Grian has a tendency to do that.”

The two walked in silence until they reached their room. Iskall offered him some cereal that he’d smuggled from the cafeteria since they’d missed breakfast. Mumbo gladly accepted and then went to clean himself up. The teen took a shower and changed into a freshly pressed suit. He noticed that the cat plush was still on his bed and quickly shoved it back into the suitcase. 

By the time both Iskall and Mumbo had gotten back to class there was only a few minutes left. Grian who sat near Iskall could be heard making snide remarks to the swede such as “Nice boxers Iskall” or “Did your grandma make you that robe?”. 

The bell rang and the 7a students streamed out of class and into the hallway. Grian waltzed up to Mumbo a smirk plastered on his face. Mumbo looked down at the shorter boy angrily and got ready for whatever insults the blonde was gonna throw his way. 

“No need to look so happy to see me,” Grian rolled his eyes at Mumbo’s expression. 

Mumbo turned away and started to stride down the hallway to reach maths class, and Grian had to walk quickly to keep up with his steps. 

“What are you in such a rush about eh?” Grian asked.   
Mumbo didn’t slow his steps, “I’m trying to get away from you before you insult me or shock me again.”

Grain’s smirk faded as he processed Mumbo’s answer, “Aw come on man, I was just messing around.”

“Well maybe you should think about how your ‘messing around’ affects other people then. It makes sense that no one likes you if you go around acting like that.” Mumbo stated bluntly and continued walking.

When he reached the maths room he didn’t even notice that Grian had stopped following him.


	5. Chapter 5

Several days had passed since the incident with Grian, and Mumbo hadn’t seen him outside of class since. Classes went about as normal and Mumbo continued to adjust to his life on campus. He even joined a tech club that Iskall had invited him to. There he was introduced to Impulse and Zedaph two of Tango’s good friends. The five boys spent their evenings together poking a gizmos and making little gadgets. Tech club was Mumbo’s favorite part of his life at Hermitty. Of course he loved his new friends, but there was something about being able to indulge in his hobby with said friends that just made him content. 

One afternoon during tech club, Tango marched over to Mumbo and Iskall who were working on their own little project. “Dudes, I heard that Ren is throwing a party in his and Doc’s dorm tonight!” the blonde told them, “You two should totally come.”

Mumbo glanced at Iskall nervously, “I’m not sure it’s a good idea… Doc doesn’t really seem like the kind to want to throw a party and… we have to study for our maths quiz tomorrow.”

Iskall rolled his eyes, “Ah come on Mumbo, you’re like the smartest kind here you don’t need to study! And you know what Doc can suck it up. Let’s do it Mumbo, we deserve a break.”

Mumbo still felt uncertain, “I don’t know you guys… parties just aren’t really my scene.”

Tango put a hand on his shoulder, “Come on man, you’ve never been to a Hermitty party before, you don’t know what it's like!’

Mumbo felt his will begin to break a bit. He did really like the idea of having fun with his friends, even if it was in a crowded dorm at obnoxiously late hours of the night. Plus, this was Hermitty, and this school seemed to be almost perfect in Mumbo’s opinion. So maybe the parties were too.

Mumbo sighed defeatedly, “Alright I’ll come.”

Tango and Iskall fist bumped each other excitedly, and Zed who had apparently been listening from across the room gave a little ‘woo’. 

“Alright 11:00pm on the dot you two,” Tango demanded, “Be there or be square.”

As requested of them, Grian and Mumbo showed up at the door of room 6 at exactly 11:00pm. Mumbo felt excited, but also extremely nervous. They weren’t supposed to be out this late at night. What if Xisuma or Joe found out? Would they be turned in?

Mumbo pushed his worries away as his roommate quickly knocked on the door, and Ren appeared to great them. “What’s up my cyberdogs! Welcome to the party!” 

Mumbo nodded politely as the ponytailed boy let them in the dorm. It was full to the brim with his classmates from 7a. Mumbo was surprised to see even the head boy roaming around speaking to his fellow classmates. Joe was there as well, but he seemed preoccupied as Cleo was dumping his head into a bowl of punch. 

Tango, Impulse, and Zed (or as they had deemed themselves ‘Zit’) ran up to Mumbo and Iskall as they entered. 

“Hey you guys made it awesome!” Tango smiled broadly and grabbed Mumbo by the arm, “Come on dude let me show you how these parties work.” Mumbo let himself be led around by the shorter blonde as he showed him around the party. “Over there,” Tango pointed out, “Is the drink table. There are three bowls of punch, the red one is normal, the blue one is for uh whatever Cleo and Joe are doing, and the last one…” Tango nudged Mumbo and winked, “The purple one is the spiked one.”

Mumbo shook his head surprised, “How did you all manage to get alcohol on the school premises?”

Tango waved off his question, “Eh Cub did something or another. Probably bribed a teacher, woudn’t worry about it.”

Mumbo felt that was indeed something to worry about, but did not press on the subject. Tango continued to drag him around, as he met a few classmates he hadn’t before including xB and some older kid who just went by ‘TFC’. 

After a little while Tango set Mumbo free to explore the party at his own pace. The teen was a bit nervous to be on his own, not exactly sure what to do. He stood around awkwardly in the middle of the crowd looking around. Suddenly he felt a tap on his back, and turned around startled.   
There was Grian, standing there with a cup of purple punch in one hand and trying to get Mumbo’s attention. 

“Oh great it’s you…” Mumbo growled.

Grian hiccupped, “Hey maaan,” he drawled, the shorter boy was clearly quite drunk, “Can we uh talk or somethin?”

“Depends are you going to shock me again.”

“Naaaah that was just a one time thing,” Grian giggled maniacally, “It was funny tho.”

“It really wasn’t for me.” Mumbo objected. 

“Aaaah whatever, just lets go talk on the balcony.” Grian said stumbling towards the glass doors. 

Mumbo just stared after the shorter boy, what was with this complete turn around? What did Grain want to talk about? 

“You comin or not man?” Grian called out.

Mumbo sighed, grabbed himself a cup of purple punch and followed Grian out to the porch. He was going to regret this in the morning, he was sure of it.


	6. Chapter 6

Mumbo woke up several hours later, he was laying on the cold, hard tile of the balcony and his head was throbbing. He heard a loud snoring and looked up to see Grian collapsed in a chair next to him. Mumbo stood up swaying a little bit, but eventually got to his feet. The sun was just starting to rise above the horizon. What had happened last night? As he made his way into the dorm, Mumbo glanced around at all his passed out friends. His classmates were scattered about; on the couch, on the floor, or draped across a counter. The only other student who seemed to be awake was Joe, who appeared to be making himself a cup of coffee.

Joe turned around at Mumbo’s footsteps and waved, “Good Morning Mr.Jumbo. Did ya have a fun night?”

“I’m not uh, actually sure to be honest.” Mumbo replied, “I don’t really remember what happened.”

Joe nodded understandingly, “I’m gonna have to give Cub a talk about the strength of that alcohol.” 

Mumbo chuckled nervously. 

“Anyway,” Joe turned back to his coffee, “I suggest you grab your roommate there and get a move on, classes start in 2 and a half hours. Make sure to clean yourselves up.”

Mumbo nodded and began to glance around looking for Iskall. The swede was passed out on a wicker chair tucked in the corner of the room. As Mumbo walked forward to wake him, he noticed his roommate's hand hanging off the chair holding on tightly to Stress’s hand. Stress laid on the floor with Iskall’s hoodie draped across her like a blanket. Mumbo smiled warmly at the sight. He was a bit sad to wake up Iskall looking so content, but knew they needed to get ready. Mumbo tapped his roommate on the shoulder.

“Five more minutes…” Iskall grumbled.

“Nope,” Mumbo laughed at his friend’s state, “We gotta go get ready dude.”

“Nooooo….”

“I know you don’t want to let go of Stress’s hand, but we’ll be late for classes if you don’t give up.” Mumbo said nudging Iskall a little harder. 

Iskall’s eyes shot wide open at that and he quickly let go of Stress’s hand. Her hand hit the floor with a thump and Iskall winced. Luckily, the girl didn’t wake up but murmured and gripped tighter to Iskall’s hoodie.

Mumbo chuckled at Iskall’s flushed face, “Looks like you're not getting your hoodie back till later man.” Iskall glared at him, but got up and headed towards the exit of the dorm. As they reached the door they were greeted by Xisuma who seemed to have made himself coffee as well.

“Morning boys,” the headboy greeted.

The two roommates nodded in reply and Xisuma held the door open for them to exit. 

A few hours later the class of 7a filtered into their morning english class looking disheveled. Mrs.Middleton glanced at her students knowingly and gave them an easy writing assignment for the day. 

At the end of class the teacher got her students attention with a tap of a ruler. “Mr. Maron has asked me to remind you all that you will be having a maths quiz next hour.”  
The class broke into nervous rumblings, most of them had forgotten about the test in the excitement of last night's party. Mumbo paled, he knew that he had purposely skipped out on studying to attend Ren’s party, but he was still nervous of the repercussions it might have. Keralis reached over from the desk next to him and patted Mumbo’s shoulder reassuringly. 

Luckily for Mumbo, the math quiz seemed to go by without a hitch. He was pretty sure he’d answered at least the majority of the question correctly. However, it didn’t seem to have gone quite as well for his roommate. Iskall had spent most of the time taking the quiz staring at Stress who had been casually wearing his hoodie all morning. 

As they left the class for break, Mumbo walked over to his swedish friend. “A little distracted there eh bud?”

Iskall glared at the taller boy flushed, “I just want my hoodie back man!”

“If you say so.”

“I do say so!” Iskall stuck his tongue out at his roommate, “By the way I’ve been meaning to ask you; what happened with Grian last night?”

Mumbo paused, he had forgotten that he had talked to Grian last night in the business of the morning. However, he could not remember what they had discussed or what had gone down. He explained this to Iskall who scoffed.

“Ah you don’t want to tell me, I see.”

“No! I really don’t remember dude!” 

“Well I guess it wasn’t that important then.” Iskall shrugged.

For some reason, Mumbo suddenly got a feeling that something important HAD happened last night, but he didn’t know what. Guess that meant he would have to ask Grian…


End file.
